The good news is the Sharks didn't blow another 4-1
lead in the 3rd period like the last time they played the Minnesota Wild. The
bad news is, they were overmatched for three periods, and never even came close
to holding a lead against the Wild. San Jose spent the majority of the night
chasing a faster Wild team en route to a 3-1 loss at Xcel Energy Center. The
loss was reminiscent of the Sharks performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins
in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring. The Sharks were overmatched and never
really made an appearance in the loss.

San Jose looked old. The looked
slow. They looked like a team that doesn't know how to adjust to a game plan
that was simply superior. The fact is, the Wild are a very good team, and they
took it to the Sharks on home ice.

The Sharks dug themselves a hole in
the opening period, courtesy of a questionable boarding call against rookie
Kevin Labanc. Labanc was trailing defenseman Christian Folin who dropped to a
knee as he chased puck to his own end boards. Labanc got a hand on Folin who
crashed awkwardly into the boards. Zach Parise converted on the ensuing power
play, by punching in a Jason Pominville feed past Martin Jones from the top of
the crease.

Jones made one of the odder saves you'll ever see two
minutes later, when a Chris Stewart shot tucked under his jersey after catching
it at the collar. Everyone in a Wild jersey thought the puck cross the goal
line, but once it disappeared under Jones' jersey, there was no way to
determine if the puck crossed the puck with any certainty.

Eric Staal
made it a 2-0 game at 15:24 after slipping past Marcus Sorensen and snapping a
shot from 15 feet out. Matt Dumba fed Staal from behind the Sharks net, taking
advantage of the Sharks defensive lapse.

a Marco Scandella high
sticking penalty put the Sharks on the power play on the ensuing faceoff, but
the power play couldn't generate any pressure on Wild goaltender Devin Dubnyk.
Scandella had the best scoring chance after taking a lead pass upon exiting the
penalty box. The Wild defenseman raced up ice, but was denied by Jones.

San Jose cut the Wild lead in half with 1:34 left in the period when
Melker Karlsson deposited the back end of a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that
started with Justin Braun hitting Micheal Haley from the right corner. Haley
received the pass from the end boards past the left post, and quickly
redirected it to the goal mouth where Karlsson was cutting. Karlsson lifted the
shot, getting it past Dubnyk for his 9th goal of the season.

Joe
Pavelski got the Sharks into more hot water after cutting Jonas Brodin with a
high stick to draw a double minor 7 seconds before the 1st intermission. One a
night where the Sharks were happy with morale victories, the big one was
keeping the Wild off the board during the 4 minute penalty kill.

Morale victories don't count in the standings, and
when San Jose needed to step it up, they simply flubbed. The middle period was
better, but they never really pressured Dubnyk.

The 2nd period ended
with the same 2-1 score.

In the critical 3rd period, the Sharks simply
did nothing. Dubnyk faced one scoring chance in the period, and that came from
third liner Chris Tierney. The Sharks generated a paltry 5 shots in the period,
and the top two lines were absent.

The big money guys were nowhere to
be found and the Wild simply killed clock.

Special teams continued to
set the tone for San Jose. Since November, the Sharks have converted on 15% of
power play chances, which has moved them closer to the bottom of the league in
that statistic. The penalty kill is already in the bottom half of the league.

Minnesota iced the game with an empty net goal after San Jose was
forced to pull Jones. The extra attacker netter the Sharks zero shots on net.

Game Notes:

* Dylan DeMelo returned to the lineup
after missing the last 22 games with a broken wrist. DeMelo took David
Schlemko's spot on the roster after the defenseman was injured in the Sharks
win over Vancouver on Thursday.

* Tomas Hertl and Brent Burns finished
the evening with a -2 +/-

* San Jose managed to throw only 21 shots on
goal and Brent Burns accounted for 6 of them. The top lines accounted for 5
shots total.

* The Sharks can't lean on the blocked shot excuse as
Minnesota only impeded 10 shots during the game.

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